July 2008
16 posts
4 tags
My Favorites from our Sophomore Year
My favorite “frills” new restaurant of the year was Elettaria. Chef Nawab is just doing such interesting things on the plate and the space is truly stunning. I don’t know if this restaurant has staying power, or if the chef will run out of ideas, but it is truly inspired cuisine. My favorite “a little frilly” new restaurant is Naka Naka. It isn’t very new, but it’s very good. It’s a small Japanese...
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No Nonsense
Inevitably, there are always a few restaurants that you go to again and again that aren’t anything special, but then again, they just are. My favorite no-nonsense restaurant that I tried for the first time this year is an old place on my block called La Locanda. Here, the Italian owner makes the fusilli and cavatelli each day. The single room is stark but the tantalizing smells and friendly...
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2nd Anniversary Dish!
This issue marks the closing of the DISH’s second year! Every week for 104 weeks on end, the DISH has been here to feed you tasty morsels of information about New York’s ever-evolving dining scene. We’ve eaten healthy, unhealthy, in dives, and in four-star restaurants. We’ve also tested recipes, talked to chefs, and shared home-cooking secrets. Starting with Volume 3, the DISH will be enhancing...
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Jordan’s Lobster Dock
A couple of weeks back, I got the urge to check out Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. This is a part of Brooklyn located North East of Brighton Beach and Coney Island, and for some reason, it kept popping up on my radar. A year ago a friend’s friend had mentioned his family’s business out there, then my uncle had been to a car dealership around the area, and then TimeOutNY had mentioned a must-try (which...
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Ear Fare
As far as late night bar food goes, I think I can confirm the sneaking suspicion I’ve had for about two years now. The Ear Inn’s food is really the best. I used to live a few blocks from this wonderful watering hole and my former roommate used to always mention, modestly, how extremely decent he thought the food was at Ear. There was also the added bonus of it being opened quite late, making it a...
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Batch of Unusual Sweets
I stopped into Batch, Pichet Ong’s P*Ong bakery follow-up on tenth street, and found some unusual treats last week. The least curious, but by no means dull, were two cupcakes. There was a Chocolate Devil’s Food variation, which was chocolate cake/chocolate frosting but surprised with a caramel layer within. There was also a Carrot/Salted Caramel delight in which the cake was carrot and the...
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Madecasse Interview (part II)
TM: The idea came from our joint Peace Corps experiences, but also our private sector experiences (Brett’s was in Madagascar): Kind of an appreciation and realization that we could use capitalism creatively to change some things in Madagascar. Dish: I see. And did the Malagache government invest or help you with your venture? Or did Peace Corps? It seems daunting to start a company that...
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Madecasse
After living in Madagascar several years ago, I have been unable to get it out of my system. Thus, when I bumped into Madecasse , a new company dedicated to producing high-end exports like chocolate and vanilla from Madagascar, my eyes popped out of my head and my jaw hit the ground. Started by a former Peace Corps member who spent time on the Red Island after college, Madecasse is very dedicated...
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Madecasse Interview (part I)
Dish: So, when did you go to Madagascar for Peace Corps, and what were you doing? Tim McCollum: I left in August of 1999, a couple of months after college graduation. Dish: And how long did you spend there/what were you doing? TM: I was there for two years. My primary project was teaching English at Lycée (High School) and C.E.G (Elem. School). I also did a couple of secondary projects - built a...
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Bittman Picnic
Mark Bittman gave quite a few picnic ideas in Wednesday’s New York Times. I couldn’t get through the article without being utterly overwhelmed. Finally, I paired down my perfect picnic via Bittman. I’d start with the Thai Gazpacho—that quick blended soup of tomatoes and cucumbers in which the author most expertly adds stalks of lemongrass and cilantro. Then I’d go for an intermezzo of tomatoes and...
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Ceviche della Máma
Ceviche is a funny thing. Raw fish gets marinated in citrus—be it lime, lemon, grapefruit, or orange—and is then safe to eat, since the citric acid “cooks” the fish. Depending on which citrus you use to cure your fish of choice determines which type of ceviche you are making—Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Chilean, etc. Moreover, these regions have specific types of fish that they use more typically as well...
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William Poll Chip Heaven
Last week at the Fancy Food Show, I tasted a lot of, what seemed at the time, delicious food. However, when doing a recap while brainstorming for this newsletter, there was only one standout product. William Poll Potato Chips—you name the flavor—are spectacular. Garlic, Sesame, Shallot and Pepper, Rosemary, Herbs de Provence…those are just a few of the incredible flavors in which these super...
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Sneaking to Savoia
Savoia is probably my new favorite Italian restaurant. On a tip from my uncle, I went on an impromptu tasting mission to Carroll Gardens on a pleasant Sunday evening not so long ago to give the place a whirl. After one meal, I am a total convert. Of course, it does help that a fifteen minute wait was remedied by a glass of gratis prosecco handed off by a doe-eyed bartender. Ahhh… Italia. It’s a...
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Five Front, and Dinner for Four in the Back
Before a St. Ann’s Warehouse play last week, I went to the charming Five Front Restaurant. The garden in the back was lively, as it seemed that several other people had my same idea for a pre-play meal. And, although this put quite a strain on the waitress—there was one for the ten or so tables back there—she was nothing but gracious and apologetic as she tried to keep our dinner moving at the...
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July 4th Hints
Staying in the city this Friday? Me, too! I suggest stopping off at Lobster Place in Chelsea Market, buying as many lobsters as you can afford, buying a few clams and oysters while you are at it, finding someone with a roof, hauling a Weber grill up there, bringing along lasts weeks New York Magazine in which dissecting a lobster is explained, and instead of boiling the lobster (and sautéing the...
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Blue Water Lunch
I hadn’t been to Blue Water Grill—that long-standing BRGuest establishment in Union Square—since my maiden year living in Manhattan. I liked it fine back then, but it always struck me as contrived, and that feeling has stuck with me all this time. However, after lunch there last week, I must say, that no matter how staged this place is, the food is phenomenal. This is a well-oiled machine to say...
